09-13-2002, 05:40 PM
My trip report from the Suncruz Casino Port Canaveral (http://www.suncruzpoker.com), Friday, 9/6, daytime cruise (boarding at 10:30, cruise at 11, back to the dock by 4).
I was in Orlando for work last week. Worked Labor Day through Thursday, 9/5. Friday, 9/6 was my first day off. Rented a car from Dollar at the airport. The drive from the Orlando suburbs to Port Canaveral was easy - uncongested highway the whole way. I’d say it took about an hour, maybe 1:15.
I phoned the poker department the day before and left my name on a voicemail, along with the game I wanted to play ($5-10 ½ Hold Em, ½ Omaha/8 w/a full kill, as advertised on their web site). When I arrived for the morning cruise on Friday, I went to the poker check-in, and they told me that they would only had enough players for one game, including a one dealer and a few stud/8 players. So we’d play one table (no kill, btw) and change every round: $5-10 Hold Em, $5-10 Omaha/8, and $2-10 Stud/8. I asked the regulars how many tables would get going on the evening cruises, and they said 5-6. But for this morning/afternoon, it was just 1.
After enjoying the first part of the trip to international waters on the deck outside, I eventually found a seat at the 8-handed stud table. We were allowed to buy-in, but it took about 30 minutes to cruise out to international waters, where anything goes and the first hand was dealt. :-) The dealer, Jodi (I think), was very friendly and professional. She knew everybody’s name from the list (probably because there was only one new name to learn, mine, as the only non-regular, I’m pretty sure).
We started with the Hold Em round. The off-duty dealer, Dan, raised the first hand and proclaimed “no limping.” Apart from him, though, the game was quite passive. I don’t remember anyone else raising pre-flop, except him and I. One of the other players limped and re-raised a couple of times (with pocket pairs as low as 10s), but I don’t remember him open-raising at all. So the game was quite passive (except for a mini-tilt Omaha hand or two that were capped 4-5 ways pre-flop), quite loose, and was often 6 handed, depending on who was walking. Me like. Only memorable hand from the first round was pocket 10s in my BB which I had to fold when all kinds of overcards came in a multi-way pot. In later Hold Em rounds, I only 3-bet once, pocket AA vs. Dan the dealer’s raise, got heads up. I weakly checked the turn when the middle card paired. He checked behind. I bet the river and was called. I think he showed me JJ and I took it. I raised 44 UTG+1 (we were 5-handed) and got heads up with the big blind and won when nothing hit his Q9s.
The rake was the terrible, but fairly standard $6 (10% to $4, $1 for the regular bad beat and another $1 for a promotional mega bad beat going on right now). You got a free buffet pass, and/or you could order a la carte (free) at the table. I had a chicken Caesar salad at the table, which was decent.
Now, I’ve never played O/8 or Stud/8 in a casino before. I got the feeling that if you know these games, you could’ve done really well. Hold Em seemed to be everyone’s best game. In Stud/8, I didn’t get any great high starters (rolled up anything or Aces under), so I just looked for hands that could go both ways (low 3-straights and 3-flushes). I think I got at least half of each Stud/8 hand that I showed down, however, I could’ve won more, I think, if I were more comfortable betting the draws. I did okay at Omaha too, losing a few at showdown, but also splitting most and scooping once or twice.
So, the short version is, I had a good time playing with these friendly locals. The day I was there, the game was soft, but it was definitely showdown poker – you needed to catch some cards. I won $165 in the roughly 4 hours that we had to play before heading back in to land.
If you don’t like bad beat stories, stop reading now.
I’m not sure either of these qualify as even “bad” beats, but they were tough. They stung, and are by far the most memorable hands of the cruise, for me (other than making quad jacks in Omaha, which, needless to say, were good).
My opponent in both of these hands was the lone stud player who watched for a while and then eventually joined the game, though he claimed (and it became apparent) that he didn’t know how to play the other 2 games.
In Omaha, from my BB, I flopped a 10-high club flush, which included the ace of clubs and the jack of clubs on the board. After the flop bets and raises, it was heads up. Don’t remember the turn, but the river paired the jack on the board. My flush went down to a full house, of course, but I couldn’t believe it when the guy flipped over AAAx. He thought he had 4 of a kind. Granted, he had a lot of outs for the board to pair once he hit is one-outer on the flop, but still…
The more stinging beat for me happened in Hold Em, because I’m supposed to have some idea what to do in that game. It’s 6- handed now, and I’m on the button with A5s. I grab 2 chips to raise first-in, but decide to just call. Stud player in the SB completes, BB checks. Flop comes A-5-x. Final board is A-5-x-3-4, and I lose to 23o. That’s what I get for letting him in cheap, I guess.
If you find yourself in Orlando with a day to kill, I’d recommend SunCruz Casino if you want to play some poker. For being the “only choice” in the area, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I’d like to check it out on an evening cruise sometime with multiple tables going, or even check out a tournament on W or Su. I don’t know when I’ll be back in Orlando any time soon, though.
Thoughts, comments, and your SunCruz stories are appreciated.
CMP
I was in Orlando for work last week. Worked Labor Day through Thursday, 9/5. Friday, 9/6 was my first day off. Rented a car from Dollar at the airport. The drive from the Orlando suburbs to Port Canaveral was easy - uncongested highway the whole way. I’d say it took about an hour, maybe 1:15.
I phoned the poker department the day before and left my name on a voicemail, along with the game I wanted to play ($5-10 ½ Hold Em, ½ Omaha/8 w/a full kill, as advertised on their web site). When I arrived for the morning cruise on Friday, I went to the poker check-in, and they told me that they would only had enough players for one game, including a one dealer and a few stud/8 players. So we’d play one table (no kill, btw) and change every round: $5-10 Hold Em, $5-10 Omaha/8, and $2-10 Stud/8. I asked the regulars how many tables would get going on the evening cruises, and they said 5-6. But for this morning/afternoon, it was just 1.
After enjoying the first part of the trip to international waters on the deck outside, I eventually found a seat at the 8-handed stud table. We were allowed to buy-in, but it took about 30 minutes to cruise out to international waters, where anything goes and the first hand was dealt. :-) The dealer, Jodi (I think), was very friendly and professional. She knew everybody’s name from the list (probably because there was only one new name to learn, mine, as the only non-regular, I’m pretty sure).
We started with the Hold Em round. The off-duty dealer, Dan, raised the first hand and proclaimed “no limping.” Apart from him, though, the game was quite passive. I don’t remember anyone else raising pre-flop, except him and I. One of the other players limped and re-raised a couple of times (with pocket pairs as low as 10s), but I don’t remember him open-raising at all. So the game was quite passive (except for a mini-tilt Omaha hand or two that were capped 4-5 ways pre-flop), quite loose, and was often 6 handed, depending on who was walking. Me like. Only memorable hand from the first round was pocket 10s in my BB which I had to fold when all kinds of overcards came in a multi-way pot. In later Hold Em rounds, I only 3-bet once, pocket AA vs. Dan the dealer’s raise, got heads up. I weakly checked the turn when the middle card paired. He checked behind. I bet the river and was called. I think he showed me JJ and I took it. I raised 44 UTG+1 (we were 5-handed) and got heads up with the big blind and won when nothing hit his Q9s.
The rake was the terrible, but fairly standard $6 (10% to $4, $1 for the regular bad beat and another $1 for a promotional mega bad beat going on right now). You got a free buffet pass, and/or you could order a la carte (free) at the table. I had a chicken Caesar salad at the table, which was decent.
Now, I’ve never played O/8 or Stud/8 in a casino before. I got the feeling that if you know these games, you could’ve done really well. Hold Em seemed to be everyone’s best game. In Stud/8, I didn’t get any great high starters (rolled up anything or Aces under), so I just looked for hands that could go both ways (low 3-straights and 3-flushes). I think I got at least half of each Stud/8 hand that I showed down, however, I could’ve won more, I think, if I were more comfortable betting the draws. I did okay at Omaha too, losing a few at showdown, but also splitting most and scooping once or twice.
So, the short version is, I had a good time playing with these friendly locals. The day I was there, the game was soft, but it was definitely showdown poker – you needed to catch some cards. I won $165 in the roughly 4 hours that we had to play before heading back in to land.
If you don’t like bad beat stories, stop reading now.
I’m not sure either of these qualify as even “bad” beats, but they were tough. They stung, and are by far the most memorable hands of the cruise, for me (other than making quad jacks in Omaha, which, needless to say, were good).
My opponent in both of these hands was the lone stud player who watched for a while and then eventually joined the game, though he claimed (and it became apparent) that he didn’t know how to play the other 2 games.
In Omaha, from my BB, I flopped a 10-high club flush, which included the ace of clubs and the jack of clubs on the board. After the flop bets and raises, it was heads up. Don’t remember the turn, but the river paired the jack on the board. My flush went down to a full house, of course, but I couldn’t believe it when the guy flipped over AAAx. He thought he had 4 of a kind. Granted, he had a lot of outs for the board to pair once he hit is one-outer on the flop, but still…
The more stinging beat for me happened in Hold Em, because I’m supposed to have some idea what to do in that game. It’s 6- handed now, and I’m on the button with A5s. I grab 2 chips to raise first-in, but decide to just call. Stud player in the SB completes, BB checks. Flop comes A-5-x. Final board is A-5-x-3-4, and I lose to 23o. That’s what I get for letting him in cheap, I guess.
If you find yourself in Orlando with a day to kill, I’d recommend SunCruz Casino if you want to play some poker. For being the “only choice” in the area, I was actually pleasantly surprised. I’d like to check it out on an evening cruise sometime with multiple tables going, or even check out a tournament on W or Su. I don’t know when I’ll be back in Orlando any time soon, though.
Thoughts, comments, and your SunCruz stories are appreciated.
CMP